Thursday, August 31, 2017

Review - - The Playboy Prince and the Nanny

The Playboy Prince and the Nanny

By Donna Alward

Publisher: Swerve

Release Date: August 1, 2017

Reviewed by Janga

Diego Navarro, second son of the King of Marazur, a small
Mediterranean principality, is at an English bar with his best friend from his
days as a Cambridge post-graduate when he hears a television blaring the news
of the tragedy. A call from his sister, Luciana, soon confirms that the report
is accurate. Cecilia Navarro, wife of Diego’s elder brother, Raoul, crown prince
of Marazur, and Mariana Cortez, nanny to Raoul and Ceci’s two children, have
been killed in an automobile accident. Diego may spend much of his time out of
his country engaged in activities that have earned him the title “the Playboy
Prince,” but he loves his family. He leaves for Marazur immediately.

Diego is eager to assume more responsibility in Marazur, but
his father and brother are locked into the position they assumed twenty-five
years ago when Diego and Raoul’s mother died: Diego is to be protected. That
protection means limiting his role as a member of the royal family. But it is
Diego who remembers that his young niece and nephew, grieving for their mother
and their nanny, are in desperate need of a new caregiver. He takes it upon
himself to hire a new nanny.

Rosalie Walters is an English nanny with impeccable
references. She has worked for wealthy families and even minor nobility, but
this is her first position as nanny to royalty. Rose is understandably nervous,
and that nervousness increases when she meets Prince Diego. She met him once,
and she is aware of his potent charm. But she expects him to be in South
America where the latest paparazzi coverage has placed the international
playboy. She is flustered to find him in the castle kitchen, teasing the cook
and clearly ready to flirt with the new nanny. Rose quickly establishes a
loving relationship with six-year-old Emilia and four-year-old Max. Prince
Raoul is distant but pleasant, and the staff is kind and ready to help her
adjust to her new position. Rose is set to enjoy her new role.

To her surprise, the most frequent visitor to the royal
nursery is not the children’s father but their uncle. It is clear that Uncle
Diego is a great favorite with the children and that his affection for them is
genuine. The problem is that, try as she may, Rose cannot deny how much she
enjoys Diego’s company. She insists on addressing him as “Your Highness” and
maintaining a proper distance, but Diego refuses to recognize the barriers she
puts in place. He finds a friend in the English Rose, one to whom he can talk
about his frustration with his playboy identity, one who sees him as a man
rather than a title. And the attraction that sparked between them in that
kitchen meeting grows with each encounter. Just when it seems that the prince
and the nanny may have their fairy tale ending, scandal erupts. Diego is MIA. A
broken heart and a ruined reputation may be all Rose has to show for her time
in Marazur.

The Playboy Prince and
the Nanny is the first of a two-book set from Donna Alward. It is a sweet
romance, but I consider it Donna Alward light. I liked Rose and Diego and felt
great sympathy for Raoul and the children. However, despite the tragedy that
served as inciting incident, the story lacked the emotional depth that made me
a fan of Donna Alward’s books. This novel reminded me of the shorter category
romances that require some suspension of disbelief, offer an entertaining few
hours, but are not particularly memorable a few days later. I don’t intend that
statement to be pejorative. Sometimes that is exactly the kind of book a reader
needs.

If you like contemporary romance with a fairy tale element,
heavy on genuine sweetness but light on substance, you may enjoy this book. I won’t
be adding it to my best books of 2017, but I liked it well enough to note that
Raoul’s story, The Crown Prince’s Bride,
will be released January 9, 2018. And since I had a feeling that sister
Luciana’s story had been told, I did some research and found that The Rancher’s Runaway Princess, a 2009
Harlequin Romance, is available for my Kindle.I will be reading that one too.

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